Avanti_Racing
Banned
02 Kona Stinky
02 Kona Stinky
Your old bike been run down by to much wear and tear? Stop that now and buy a bike that can last a lifetime, weather your into a bit of DH for the thrill of things, Freeriding to feel *^high^*, or just a little of XC(not recomended haha), this bike will provide u with these needs no matter what! With a 3 year warranty from Kona themselves(im not recomending you'll need it!) your guaranteed to be riding, not only a bike, but an 02 stinky of course.
I have had my 02 stinky for about 3 months or more after my red specialized fsr comp frame carked it, and this has served me really well, i had bought this as it has a verygood repuation and will take a beating and just keep on going and going!
The stinky not only looks beefy and mad but is!, Don't beleive me, here, this is what i think bout it so far and hopefully foreva....
STRENGTHS
Apart from a tough frame witch is dog easy to upgrade, the stinky provides the thickness and stability of 'another' dh machine without the weight! The stinky provides smooth and durable handling while either climbing a hill, or descenting a mountain, not a sqeuak should b heard. With the great strong frame the 4-bar linkage system is basicaly an added bonus, and as heavy as it might look with all of those extras, for all those who were wondering, YES, this bike can be pedaled uphill! No suprise really. With satisfactory travel on the front and rear of the bike the rear shock is virtually bottomless, it keeps serving and serving you(like it has a mind of its own!!). For the retail price of $3,000.00 Brand New!, this machine would be the perfect beginner/intermediate Dirt jumping bike to learn or advance on. While i dont have the factory standards on my stinky, i can tell by looking at it that the components are extrodinary, and have recently found out that this bike is WAAAAY underpriced for what you get. With a Bike like this, it is easy to throw around and manouver around corners that are hardly imaginable. Knowing alot of other people that have stinkys, i know for a FACT that they treat theyre bikes like you would to your maths teacher(NO RESPECT), and not 1, NOT 1 weld on this bike has even started to show signs of damage. For 6" of plush travel on the rear that is adjustable to either hard or soft, this is what changes it from DH to FR to XC(again, not recomended for XC). With the 5" of travel on the front, all of the geometry couldn't be better, with frame angles perfect while the welding re-inforces that, not that you will need it but it jus looks good i supose. This '02 Stinky' has a Bombproof look to it and will stick down to most terains in m ost conditions, given your not jumping as you wont be on the ground anyway. To ride this bike i think would turn anybody into a gaps or drop freak, making you want to look for bigger and bigger everytime you go out without having to worry about any problems being caused while u let your style of riding loose. Another fact is that this bike won the 2002 choice awards for performance, value and durability by mtbreview.
WEAKNESSES
The real and main concern of this bike are the hayes mech disc brake setup, not a hassel if you know what you are doing but you really need to know what you are doing for them to give you 10/10 back. The litle squeel that comes off them is awsome but can get annoying to some people, but then again, you really have to know what your doing when your setting them up for them to perform properly. The tires could be improved from Tioga 2.1XC to at least 2.5Factory dh, comon tioga, be genorous, we are talking about a stinky here! I would say with the tyres they should have more rubber in them, as for the amount of riding i do, quite a bit comparing to where i live, the tires wear down all too quickly, so i replaced them with a kenda dh and wiogs factpry dh 2.5, only got 20%wear in the time the others had worn to the botom thread!! As for the seat pole, DONT tighten the bolt as it grinds easily and the seat pole isn't top stuff either, with the thread up the top grinding to a flat, sure the pole stays still but the top teeth are not strong at all! The cranks on the stinky are good, but the bottom bracket sloowly wears away, so one day, u will leterally stop pedalling, i think what it is, is that all the interior things jam up and just go apeshit and refuse to work, DAM. Oh and judges, yes this happened to me on race day at eildon, it was all fine until the start of the race, i went to pedal, and again, and again, then it stopped, 3 pedals into the race and my cranks froze, costing me about 3 or 4 places. Another weak point is, because of the squeezed up linkages, not many chainguides(not bash guards *hint*) can fit it, like hussefelt I chainguide, warning poeple, only buy unless its not going on a stinky!, i have warned you!, it did happen to me so be careful that it is going to fit. Watch out for te grips as the blister your hands, so wear gloves unless you change grips, they arent bad for the first few rides but after many they start to ache and you will see why. Also the paint does and can chip easily, but hey, whos gonna no when your flying down a farkin firetrail or dh course at 50 k eh? the last wekness of this bike would have to be he rear deaurailor hanger as it does bend(bend it bac lol) but this never happened too seriously to me yet, jus a lil kink, and the rear deaurailor is or has to be the worst part of this bike, although it does do its job, it doesn't do its job at high speeds and the wheels on the rear deaurilor squeek and need replacing, other than this its all good.
RATING
For a rating out of 10 and a reason to go with it i would rate it 9 out of 10[9/10] for handling, no-squeaks apart from discs, price, performance and geometry. The wheels do buckle but only a slight warp and it does take a bit to get em going off track. So final rating is 9/10.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Now for the final verdict: This bike will handle any downhill; short or extreme. I've overcome some pretty gnarly and rutte filled descents with my old specialized so I know how to ride smoothly, but to ride this couldn't be better, but fels hella better. I'm comparing how the stinky would handle and I can say that it would be mistake-proof for downhilling. A section of eildon dh racecourse that usually forced me to slow down on my specialized and make a trials-like approach which tended to slow down to much and hit a rock buckling my wheel(s), but with tha stinky i can corner and keep most of my speed up apart from the rediculosly tight corners. The suspension is that plush although it might bottom out if I was 30 kilos pounds heavier. There are upgrades to prevent that though and do come at a cost, use the stock stinky untill you need to ugrade either because u like bigger or they snap and there is no way in hell of repair, thats how much i wanna stay with the stinky.
The components are good except for the disc brakes being that touchy. They are underpowered for a bike of this weight and a bit grabby which can be goob/bad. My cheap V-brakes stop me a little better(can you tell that I'm not a fan of light bikes?) on my specialized twice faster than these discs. I will upgrade to hydros when I wear this one out. The fork is setup just right for me. derailers could work better and same deal with the shifters.
Geometry is spot on for me. Ride one first to see if it fits you, and if it does fit you, and your bike gets shitted on by this, by all means u wont be let down if you choose to upgrade!![/b]
02 Kona Stinky
Your old bike been run down by to much wear and tear? Stop that now and buy a bike that can last a lifetime, weather your into a bit of DH for the thrill of things, Freeriding to feel *^high^*, or just a little of XC(not recomended haha), this bike will provide u with these needs no matter what! With a 3 year warranty from Kona themselves(im not recomending you'll need it!) your guaranteed to be riding, not only a bike, but an 02 stinky of course.
I have had my 02 stinky for about 3 months or more after my red specialized fsr comp frame carked it, and this has served me really well, i had bought this as it has a verygood repuation and will take a beating and just keep on going and going!
The stinky not only looks beefy and mad but is!, Don't beleive me, here, this is what i think bout it so far and hopefully foreva....
STRENGTHS
Apart from a tough frame witch is dog easy to upgrade, the stinky provides the thickness and stability of 'another' dh machine without the weight! The stinky provides smooth and durable handling while either climbing a hill, or descenting a mountain, not a sqeuak should b heard. With the great strong frame the 4-bar linkage system is basicaly an added bonus, and as heavy as it might look with all of those extras, for all those who were wondering, YES, this bike can be pedaled uphill! No suprise really. With satisfactory travel on the front and rear of the bike the rear shock is virtually bottomless, it keeps serving and serving you(like it has a mind of its own!!). For the retail price of $3,000.00 Brand New!, this machine would be the perfect beginner/intermediate Dirt jumping bike to learn or advance on. While i dont have the factory standards on my stinky, i can tell by looking at it that the components are extrodinary, and have recently found out that this bike is WAAAAY underpriced for what you get. With a Bike like this, it is easy to throw around and manouver around corners that are hardly imaginable. Knowing alot of other people that have stinkys, i know for a FACT that they treat theyre bikes like you would to your maths teacher(NO RESPECT), and not 1, NOT 1 weld on this bike has even started to show signs of damage. For 6" of plush travel on the rear that is adjustable to either hard or soft, this is what changes it from DH to FR to XC(again, not recomended for XC). With the 5" of travel on the front, all of the geometry couldn't be better, with frame angles perfect while the welding re-inforces that, not that you will need it but it jus looks good i supose. This '02 Stinky' has a Bombproof look to it and will stick down to most terains in m ost conditions, given your not jumping as you wont be on the ground anyway. To ride this bike i think would turn anybody into a gaps or drop freak, making you want to look for bigger and bigger everytime you go out without having to worry about any problems being caused while u let your style of riding loose. Another fact is that this bike won the 2002 choice awards for performance, value and durability by mtbreview.
WEAKNESSES
The real and main concern of this bike are the hayes mech disc brake setup, not a hassel if you know what you are doing but you really need to know what you are doing for them to give you 10/10 back. The litle squeel that comes off them is awsome but can get annoying to some people, but then again, you really have to know what your doing when your setting them up for them to perform properly. The tires could be improved from Tioga 2.1XC to at least 2.5Factory dh, comon tioga, be genorous, we are talking about a stinky here! I would say with the tyres they should have more rubber in them, as for the amount of riding i do, quite a bit comparing to where i live, the tires wear down all too quickly, so i replaced them with a kenda dh and wiogs factpry dh 2.5, only got 20%wear in the time the others had worn to the botom thread!! As for the seat pole, DONT tighten the bolt as it grinds easily and the seat pole isn't top stuff either, with the thread up the top grinding to a flat, sure the pole stays still but the top teeth are not strong at all! The cranks on the stinky are good, but the bottom bracket sloowly wears away, so one day, u will leterally stop pedalling, i think what it is, is that all the interior things jam up and just go apeshit and refuse to work, DAM. Oh and judges, yes this happened to me on race day at eildon, it was all fine until the start of the race, i went to pedal, and again, and again, then it stopped, 3 pedals into the race and my cranks froze, costing me about 3 or 4 places. Another weak point is, because of the squeezed up linkages, not many chainguides(not bash guards *hint*) can fit it, like hussefelt I chainguide, warning poeple, only buy unless its not going on a stinky!, i have warned you!, it did happen to me so be careful that it is going to fit. Watch out for te grips as the blister your hands, so wear gloves unless you change grips, they arent bad for the first few rides but after many they start to ache and you will see why. Also the paint does and can chip easily, but hey, whos gonna no when your flying down a farkin firetrail or dh course at 50 k eh? the last wekness of this bike would have to be he rear deaurailor hanger as it does bend(bend it bac lol) but this never happened too seriously to me yet, jus a lil kink, and the rear deaurailor is or has to be the worst part of this bike, although it does do its job, it doesn't do its job at high speeds and the wheels on the rear deaurilor squeek and need replacing, other than this its all good.
RATING
For a rating out of 10 and a reason to go with it i would rate it 9 out of 10[9/10] for handling, no-squeaks apart from discs, price, performance and geometry. The wheels do buckle but only a slight warp and it does take a bit to get em going off track. So final rating is 9/10.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Now for the final verdict: This bike will handle any downhill; short or extreme. I've overcome some pretty gnarly and rutte filled descents with my old specialized so I know how to ride smoothly, but to ride this couldn't be better, but fels hella better. I'm comparing how the stinky would handle and I can say that it would be mistake-proof for downhilling. A section of eildon dh racecourse that usually forced me to slow down on my specialized and make a trials-like approach which tended to slow down to much and hit a rock buckling my wheel(s), but with tha stinky i can corner and keep most of my speed up apart from the rediculosly tight corners. The suspension is that plush although it might bottom out if I was 30 kilos pounds heavier. There are upgrades to prevent that though and do come at a cost, use the stock stinky untill you need to ugrade either because u like bigger or they snap and there is no way in hell of repair, thats how much i wanna stay with the stinky.
The components are good except for the disc brakes being that touchy. They are underpowered for a bike of this weight and a bit grabby which can be goob/bad. My cheap V-brakes stop me a little better(can you tell that I'm not a fan of light bikes?) on my specialized twice faster than these discs. I will upgrade to hydros when I wear this one out. The fork is setup just right for me. derailers could work better and same deal with the shifters.
Geometry is spot on for me. Ride one first to see if it fits you, and if it does fit you, and your bike gets shitted on by this, by all means u wont be let down if you choose to upgrade!![/b]
